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  • Teenager accused of mass shooting at Apalachee High School to appear in court Tuesday

    Teenager accused of mass shooting at Apalachee High School to appear in court Tuesday

    Teenager accused of mass shooting at Apalachee High School to appear in court Tuesday

    The teenager accused of the mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Barrow County will appear in court Tuesday for a status hearing.

    Colt Gray is accused of killing four people and injuring nine others in the September 2024 shooting.

    Christian Angulo, Mason Schermerhorn, Cristina Irimie and Coach Richard “Ricky” Aspinwall are the two students and two teachers who lost their lives during the shooting.

    A report from WSB-TV revealed that Colt Gray faces 55 charges, including malice and felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and cruelty to children.Gray will be tried as an adult.

    His father, Colin Gray, has also been charged with 29 crimes for allegedly supplying access to the weapon used in the killings. He faces 29 charges, including second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. According to WSB-TV, both father and son have pleaded not guilty.

    Colin Gray’s trial will begin Feb. 9, 2026.

    Fox 5 reports that Colt Gray made his first court appearance Sept. 6, 2024, with a packed courtroom of relatives and friends of the victims.

    Colt Gray had another status hearing in May to discuss whether attorneys plan to go to trial or if the defendant was considering a plea deal, according to CNN.

    Aspinwall’s family told Fox 5 at the hearing that they want to see Colt Gray sentenced to life in prison without parole.

    “If we don’t set an example, it’s going to continue on,” Richard Aspinwall Sr. said. “If we try to set an example—they’re not going to get away with it—maybe it’ll make other people think twice about trying to pull something.”

  • Georgia schools face new absenteeism measures, cell phone ban, and closures

    Georgia schools face new absenteeism measures, cell phone ban, and closures

    Georgia schools face new absenteeism measures, cell phone ban, and closures

    Georgia public school systems made several headlines this week from, measures to reduce chronic absenteeism to announcements of school closures across broad areas. 

    Here is a wrap-up of the recent news that could impact students across the state.

    • Chronic absenteeism measures
    • Cell phone ban
    • Atlanta Public School closures

    Chronic absenteeism measures

    Members of the Georgia Legislature will be considering suggestions to address chronic absenteeism in schools.

    The Senate Study Committee on Combatting Chronic Absenteeism released its final recommendations last week to address the issue. Chronic absenteeism refers to students who miss around 18 days of school in a typical school year.

    The recommendations include measures, such as barring students from participating in extracurriculars or temporarily suspending their driver’s licenses or permits. The measures would be used to compel students to enter an approved attendance improvement plan.

    Cell phone ban

    The study committee report also included recommendations to ban cellphones in high schools.

    The Distraction-Free Education Act, passed last spring, prohibits personal electronic devices for K-8 students during the school day starting on the 2026-27 academic year.

    The Georgia Department of Education wants the ban to extend to high schoolers as well, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

    A recent survey showed that 90% of Georgia teachers supported the ban for high schoolers, according to preliminary data from Georgia Southern University’s College of Education and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators.

    Atlanta Public School Closures

    Atlanta Public Schools are weighing campus closures under its APS Forward 2040 facilities plan because despite the city’s growth, enrollment keeps falling. The district has roughly 20,000 more seats than students, stretching resources thin, according to Georgia Public Broadcasting. 

    Tracy Richter, vice president at HPM, the consulting firm that’s leading the redistricting, said consolidating campuses would put money back into classrooms.

    “By getting the infrastructure right and not spending our money on unneeded square footage, we spend it on students and we spend it on teachers,” he said. “We spend it all on the resources that students need.”

    One proposal would turn Carver Early College High School into a districtwide arts school for grades six through 12. However, Southside families worry they’ll be left out. Resident Monique Nunnally shared her concerns with GPB.

    “If it’s not for the kids that can stare out their front yard at this high school, then you’re doing a disservice to my neighborhood,” Nunnally said. “Because these kids just going to go and not have what they need, and these are my babies. These are my kids. These are my streets. I live here.”

    Written in collaboration with Alexis Young.
  • Georgia Senate panel calls for new needs-based aid program for college students

    Georgia Senate panel calls for new needs-based aid program for college students

    Georgia Senate panel calls for new needs-based aid program for college students

    The state Senate Committee on Higher Education Affordability released a report Tuesday that calls for a comprehensive needs-based aid program for college students.

    Sen. Nan Orrock, chair of the committee, said the current system is not enough for some students.

    “We’ve invested heavily in the HOPE scholarship, and we know now that with the economy and the realities that does not even get the job done,” Orrock said. “People are still left with a 5, 6, 10, 12,000 dollar gaps to fill.”

    The report calls on Georgia to model its need-based aid program on states like North Carolina and Florida. Georgia and New Hampshire are the only two states that do not fund need-based financial aid for college students, according to a report by the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute published in 2021.

    The committee’s report suggests that funding for the program should come from the unrestricted reserves of the Georgia Lottery.

    However, state Sen. Max Burns, a Sylvania Republican and chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee, expressed concerns about funding the program this way, according to the Georgia Recorder.

    “I think the lottery has done a great job for Georgia, I think HOPE has been an excellent tool, and certainly Gov. (Zell) Miller had strong foresight when he put that program in place,” he said. “But I don’t think you take funds or resources away from a successful program to fund something you need but have not yet developed a comprehensive way to address. So I’m not a fan of using lottery dollars for this program.”

    Other news in higher education:

    • Members of the University System of Georgia Board of Regents signaled that they were willing to allow public universities to accept the Classic Learning Test as an entry exam instead of the SAT or ACT, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
    • The U.S. Department of Education is implementing measures from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, including changing the “professional” status of certain degrees. The list of degrees include nursing, physician assistants, physical therapists, audiologists, architects, accountants, educators and social workers.
  • Federal appeals court orders new review of Georgia’s election law case

    Federal appeals court orders new review of Georgia’s election law case

    Federal appeals court orders new review of Georgia’s election law case

    The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a 2023 ruling that partially blocked Georgia’s contested election law that bans handing out food or drinks to voters standing in line.

    The appeals court sent the case back to the U.S. District Court for further review. The appeals court decision argued that the U.S. District Court did not apply the correct law to the case and suggested the court use the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Moody v. NetChoice, LLC, which was vacated in 2024.

    The appeals court argued that the case is a “facial challenge” of the First Amendment, and the district court needs to look at the broader implications of the case rather than the plaintiff’s involvement.

    “Rather than answering that question by charting out ‘the full range of activities,’ the district court looked only to the plaintiffs’ own line-relief efforts, focusing on the messages that voters said they understood these efforts to be conveying,” according to the opinion.

    The ruling does not resolve whether the law’s 25-foot “polling-line” buffer zone violates the First Amendment and leaves the lower court to reevaluate the case.

    Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger applauded the decision in a news release.

    “The Eleventh Circuit’s ruling reinforces a simple truth: Georgia has the right and the responsibility to shield voters from influence and interference at the polls,” Raffensperger said in the release. 

    “Despite what Stacey Abrams and her cronies say, our laws safeguard every Georgian’s right to free, fair and fast elections.” 

    The Georgia law that was challenged in the case was the Election Integrity Act of 2021, known as SB 202. The legislation made sweeping changes to Georgia’s election law following the 2020 election, including prohibiting passing out food and water within 150 feet of a polling place, inside a polling place or within 25 feet of any voter standing in line.

  • At 21, Akbar Ali heads to Georgia legislature focused on affordability and civil rights

    At 21, Akbar Ali heads to Georgia legislature focused on affordability and civil rights

    At 21, Akbar Ali heads to Georgia legislature focused on affordability and civil rights

    Democrat Akbar Ali, 21, will be the youngest member of the Georgia General Assembly in 2026 after winning the seat for House District 106.

    “If there was one word to describe it, it would be grateful, above all else. Just grateful to my family, my friends, my team, various organizations that have helped me out. But most importantly, the people of House District 106 that have chosen me… to represent them down at the Gold Dome,” Ali said. “It’s a high honor, and I am not taking anything for granted here. I mean, in fact, I guess the second way to describe how I’m feeling is just straight to work.”

    Ali will replace former state Rep. Shelly Hutchinson, who resigned earlier this year to provide care for a family member. The Gwinnett state House seat covers portions of Lawrenceville and Snellville.

    Priorities for the legislative session

    Affordability

    “It’s no secret that many families, many seniors, many young people, not just in House District 106, but just throughout Georgia, are suffering high costs of living, from high costs of insurance, to high costs of housing, to high costs of health care. So, that is top of the agenda, not just for me, but for a lot of my colleagues,” Ali said.

    To address affordability issues, Ali said the first step is addressing the cost of health care and expanding Medicaid should be a priority for the state.

    “It would not only save costs for millions of Georgians, not only give them access to health care…, but also keep a lot of rural hospitals open and alive as well, which I think just benefits the entire state, not just Gwinnett County,” he said.

    Ali also said he would like to tackle issues with investor-owned housing because he attributed it to driving housing prices up in Gwinnett County. The county has the most corporate-owned rental homes in the state, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

    Education

    Ali said he is a proud product of the public education system in Georgia, attending Duke High School in Wilburn and going to Kennesaw State University. 

    “I think that people move to Gwinnett County, but also House District 106, for our fantastic public schools. I want to protect that with a lot of the federal cuts coming, and a lot of the attacks that are happening, like the voucher bill,” he said.

    Ali is referring to the Georgia voucher program passed in 2024 that helped more than 8,000 children move from public schools with low test score averages to private schools, according to the Georgia Recorder.

    The Quality Basic Education formula has not been revised since the 1980s, he said, and he wants to take a look at it while also protecting funding for college students, such as the Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally (HOPE) scholarship.

    Civil Rights

    Ali said he wants to defend the civil rights of his constituents who have faced Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the past few months.

    “We’re still reeling from that, and furthermore, just our voting rights that need to be protected and just need to be safeguarded from various threats that are coming in from that,” he said.

    Who is Akbar Ali?

    Ali said one of the reasons he believes the community trusts him as their representative is his community and civic engagement in the past.

    “I’ve always been very civically engaged. Even before I could vote, I was holding pro-choice marches. I was doing work within the community,” he said. “I’m always of the mindset of when an opportunity to serve your community presents itself, you should try your hardest and go for it, and I’m glad to have been given this chance and to be allowed to prove myself here.”

    Ali serves as the Gwinnett County Democratic Party First Vice Chair and received several endorsements for his campaign, including from Hutchinson, former Gov. Roy Barnes, House Democratic Whip Sam Park and recently elected Public Service Commissioner Peter Hubbard.

    “I also feel like it alleviated some of the concerns about my youth, as well, where, so to speak, when the former governor, Roy Barnes, and the incumbent, Shelly Hutchinson, among many, many others, said, ‘Hey, I support this young man.’ It helped show that don’t just take my word for my competency and my matureness here, take their word for it, as well,” he said.

    Ali said he became interested in civic engagement at a young age when his mosque was subject to anti-Muslim hate and were receiving threats of violence. 

    “That kind of sparked the civic engagement, the fact that we need to be civically minded, but also fight against discrimination, not just for my community, but also for the various communities throughout this incredibly diverse county, and incredibly diverse state, because everyone deserves equal protection under the law, everyone deserves the right to due process, and everyone deserves freedom from hatred against their identities,” Ali said.

    Ali said he understands that his age is very noticeable and might cause concerns about a lack of experience, but he owns his own business and has served in leadership positions before.

    “I intend on building bridges, regardless of identity, to just be focused on getting progress done,” he said. “I have proudly won my election. I have proudly been chosen to serve in this role, and… I feel that I have the necessary experience, the necessary maturity, and the necessary backing to be able to serve this role. I look forward to doing so.”

  • Georgia to receive more than $300M for broadband expansion under federal infrastructure law

    Georgia to receive more than $300M for broadband expansion under federal infrastructure law

    Georgia to receive more than $300M for broadband expansion under federal infrastructure law

    Georgia is set to receive more than $300 million in new federal funding to expand high-speed internet access, U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff announced Monday.

    The money comes from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program (BEAD) a major initiative created under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to bring reliable internet service to communities that have historically been left behind. State officials estimate roughly 15% of Georgians still lack dependable broadband access, with the deepest gaps concentrated in rural counties.

    The Georgia Technology Authority will distribute the new funds to contractors tasked with building out networks in areas categorized as “unserved” or “underserved.”

    Warnock said the investment will help close long-standing gaps that affect education, agriculture and local economies.

    “This federal investment means life gets easier for hundreds of thousands of Georgians, and it provides the tools and infrastructure our communities need to be competitive in today’s economy,” Warnock said. “You need a broadband connection to do just about anything — you can’t even farm without one.”

    He added that the state has waited through what he called unnecessary administrative delays and said he will continue pushing for the release of all remaining federal broadband dollars.

    Ossoff called the new funding another sign that the bipartisan infrastructure package is continuing to produce tangible investments across the state.

    “This is a major next step toward ensuring every Georgia family and business has high-speed internet,” Ossoff said.

    Warnock and Ossoff have both backed broadband expansion efforts in recent years. Warnock has pressed the Federal Communications Commission to broaden programs that help schools and libraries provide Wi-Fi hotspots and has urged federal regulators to address digital discrimination. He has also visited telecommunications manufacturers and rural communities to highlight the need for stronger infrastructure.

    In 2023, Georgia received a separate $1.3 billion BEAD allocation, one of the largest awards in the country. Earlier this year, the state’s senators criticized the Trump administration for holding up additional broadband funding required to move local projects forward.

    The newly announced $300 million will support the next phase of Georgia’s push toward statewide broadband coverage, state officials say the goal is within reach for the first time.

  • Ossoff, Warnock launch inquiry into DHS limits on Congressional oversight of detention centers

    Ossoff, Warnock launch inquiry into DHS limits on Congressional oversight of detention centers

    Ossoff, Warnock launch inquiry into DHS limits on Congressional oversight of detention centers

    Democratic U.S. senators launched an inquiry on Monday into the Trump administration’s policy of restricting access to federal detention facilities.

    Georgia Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, along with 11 other colleagues, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem saying that the department’s new policies violated federal law and obstructed congressional oversight.

    The letter cited the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024, which requires DHS to allow members of Congress to inspect facilities without notice and to allow their staff to enter facilities with 24-hour notice. 

    “In the course of Sen. Ossoff’s ongoing investigation of human rights abuses in federal immigration detention, ICE arbitrarily required seven-day notice for Congressional staff to inspect a facility, postponing an urgent inspection of conditions for children held in a ‘family’ detention center” the letter claimed.

    The inquiry is the latest request from Ossoff, who has been investigating human rights violations in immigration detention facilities. His office has released two reports since July, one of which alleged abuses of pregnant women and children in immigration detention in Georgia.

    “The American people demand and deserve secure borders. The American people also believe every human being should be treated with dignity and respect, and where anybody is being denied necessary medical care or necessary nutrition, that should concern us all,” Sen. Ossoff said in a statement

    DHS sent out a policy memo in June that asked members of Congress to give at least 72 hours notice for visits and held that ICE field offices are not subject to the federal law that requires Congressional oversight.

    A DHS spokesperson dismissed the letter as “fearmongering” and said that staffers of both Sens. Ossoff and Warnock have toured ICE detention facilities six times in 2025, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

  • Georgia transit agencies receive $27M to modernize bus fleets

    Georgia transit agencies receive $27M to modernize bus fleets

    Georgia transit agencies receive $27M to modernize bus fleets

    Two transit authorities in Georgia have been awarded multimillion dollar grants from the Federal Transit Administration to improve transit infrastructure in the state.

    Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) and Cobb County will receive a total of $27.3 million to replace older buses.

    The investment is part of a larger transit project to modernize America’s transit bus infrastructure, according to a news release. The $2 billion investment will go to 165 transit projects in 45 states and Washington, D.C.

    “Delivering new and improved bus infrastructure is yet another example of how America is building again under President Trump,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy, in the release. “Whether it’s to church, school, or work, more people travel by bus than any other form of public transportation. With these grants, thousands of new buses will hit the road and infrastructure will be upgraded—making public transit more efficient, affordable and safe for American families.”

    MARTA plans to purchase 30 new, American-made buses to replace older vehicles, which have reached the end of their useful life, according to an Instagram post. The Atlanta transit authority will receive a total of $20.7 million.

    The Cumberland Community Improvement District and Cobb County are set to receive $6,632,101 to buy new autonomous vehicles to replace older buses. The project is the first autonomous transit project in the state and the first in the nation to receive a Low-No grant award from the FTA, according to a news release.

    “This investment… marks one of the greatest chapters in our history, making a major component of the Cumberland Sweep a reality,” said Kim Menefee, executive director of the Cumberland CID, in the release. “Soon, people will have a new, innovative way to move around the community using some of the most advanced mobility technology in the world. I am proud of how the Cumberland CID and our partners continue to innovate, leading the way for shared autonomous mobility.”

     

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  • Georgia ranks sixth nationally for new clean energy jobs in 2024

    Georgia ranks sixth nationally for new clean energy jobs in 2024

    Georgia ranks sixth nationally for new clean energy jobs in 2024

    Georgia added 3,292 clean energy jobs last year, which was five times more than the rest of the state’s economy in 2024, according to a report by the nonpartisan business group E2. 

    Zach Amittay, E2’s Southeast Advocate, told Georgia Public Broadcasting that the report highlights the benefits of the clean energy sector.

    “That represents a growth rate that’s five times faster than Georgia’s overall economy,” he said in the interview. “So,  just another year of data demonstrating clean energy as a real engine for job creation in Georgia, and a real driver of  workforce growth for the state.”

    Georgia has a total of more than 85,500 clean energy workers and ranked sixth in the nation for added jobs last year, according to the report.

    The data for the report was recorded through 2024, meaning that it does not reflect the recent policy changes of President Donald Trump’s administration. Research conducted by E2 found that companies have cancelled more than $2.9 billion in clean energy projects in Georgia since January 2025. These projects were expected to create an additional 1,100 jobs, according to the report.

    The clean energy sector accounts for almost 2% of all jobs in the state and nearly 39% of jobs related to energy and vehicle sectors, according to the report.

  • Fulton County taxpayers could pay Trump’s legal fees after election interference case dismissed

    Fulton County taxpayers could pay Trump’s legal fees after election interference case dismissed

    Fulton County taxpayers could pay Trump’s legal fees after election interference case dismissed

    Fulton County residents may be responsible for a sizable legal tab after the election interference case against former President Donald Trump and several co-defendants was thrown out.

    According to WSB-TV, the projected cost to taxpayers could reach between $10 million and $20 million. Fulton County Commission Chair Robb Pitts told the station the county is bracing for potentially steep reimbursements tied to a state law enacted earlier this year.

    As GPB has reported, that law allows defendants to seek repayment of their attorney’s fees when a prosecutor is removed for misconduct and the charges are dismissed. That scenario applies to the now-dropped 2020 election case originally brought by District Attorney Fani Willis.

    Willis was disqualified after a judge determined she had an improper relationship with the special prosecutor she appointed, Nathan Wade. The Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia later assumed control of the case, and its executive director, Peter Skandalakis, moved to dismiss the indictment, WSB-TV reported.

    Defense teams now have 45 days to send their fee petitions to Judge Robert McAfee, who will decide what amount, if any, the county must pay. One attorney told WSB-TV his client intends to seek reimbursement, calling the prolonged legal fight financially draining.

    The broader implications of the law have raised questions among legal observers. GPB interviewed Georgia State University political science professor Tammy Greer, who said the reimbursement requirement highlights deeper issues within the justice system.

    “The glaring part that goes through my mind is what does this say about how we view the criminal justice system? Who the criminal justice system is intended to provide consequences to?” Greer said.

    The final cost to taxpayers will depend on the judge’s review of the petitions, but county leaders say the financial burden could be significant.